The Pioche weekly record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1877-1900, 1887-03-05
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

L - StNNo Jtoe NoiHiSheh IA ~
many by Christian Martin is said to sur.
pass in wonderful construction all pre-
vious constructions. 1t is designed to
show the seconds, minutes, quarter
hours, hours, days, weeks, months, the
four seasons, the years and leap years
until the close Of 99,999 A. D. 1t gives
indications for every latitude, and re.
cords the successive phases Of the moon.
1t not only striker the quarters and
hours, but the minutes as well, sixty
different symbolic figures performing the
work. A night Waterman blows the
hours Of the night on his horn, = cock
crows at sunrise, and cuckoo appears
in spring. There are moving pictures, a
bell ringing sacristan who kneels and
folds his hands, and flute. toned musical
works, besides other interesting fea-
lures.
In an English discussion Of railway
speeds it appears that rigid tests with a
Bristol and Exeter engine, with 9-foot
single driving wheels, gave eighty miles
an hour as the greatest attainable rate
down an incline Of | in 30. with no load,
single car reducing this to IS miles.
A Great Western engine, with S-foot
wheels, could do no better than 76 miles
down in 100. On level Of ascending
grade the maximum can be but little
more than 60 miles an hour. As these
engines were designed to give the great
est possible speed, it is affirmed that no
modern motors are adapted for beating
their records, and that reports Of trains
running at more than IS miles an hour,
even for the shortest distance, must be
inaccurate timing or other errors.
Eight years of almost continuous per-
sonal experiment has confirmed the early
view of DIR. J. NJ. Anders that house.
plants are entitled to very high rank
among sanitary agents. In new work
he even asserts the conviction that living
plants serve as an efficient protection
against consumption of the lungs, be-
sides rendering important service in
other conditions Of disease. An abun-
dance Of flowers, indeed, seems to offer
an imperfect substitute for outdoor life
when indoor life is unavoidable.
Some observations male in France by
NJ. Cosson, may throw light upon many
mysterious fires. In one instance spon-
taneous firing arose from an air current
heated to u degrees Fahrenheit only.
The wood slowly carbonized at that TEN.
perature, and being thus rendered ex-
tremely porous, rapid absorption of
oxygen resulted, and sufficient heat was
then produced to inaame the dry ma
terial. In another case the warmth from
the air hole Of stove was sufficient to
set fire to the woodwork.
An English food inspector, Mr.. James
Bell, finds that horse-Hesh and beef can
not be positively distinguished by ex-
ternal appearance, but that the fat is a
reliable test The horse.fat is fluid at a
temperature Of 20 degrees, and has a
specific gravity of 100 degrees of about |
1887; while the fat of beef melts at ITO |
to 100 degrees and is considerably |
lighter. The low melting point Of the
fat will show when sausages are made |
from horse.meat.
Americans invented the sleeping. car,
but German has invented q sleeping. |
harness that makes the car less needful. |
Broad straps support the arms; they
pass through moose over the head, so
that either arm can be lowered, which |
gives chance to change position. The
head is supported by pad, which is at
tached to the upper part Of the arm.
straps. The back, Of course, rests
against the back of the seat.
A Swiss physicist, Prof. SIMMER,
that diamonds have been
formed by the taking up Of soluble car
bon by liquid carbonic acid, and its SUBJ
sequent deposition in crystal line form
on the evaporation OF the acid. This
could only take place in rock cavities
strongly COMPRISING the carbonic acid,
which would quickly disappear on re-
lease from the pressure.
Maps published by the Geological Sur
vey Of New Jersey give Sandy Hook
four times as great an area as in the year
1885, when an outline survey was made.
An excellent carbon for electrical pur-
poses is now obtained from sea.weed.
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